If we can’t get a Buford at Gettysburg, perhaps we can make this a Grant at Shiloh, and whip ‘em tomorrow. Keep up the fire, sir.

When fire rages, look for the people capitalizing on the blaze. They stoke the flames of future ruin. 8/End
#LosAngelesFires

It is the fires of disaster that show us who our leaders really are. When Rome burned under Nero, the vain emperor sang and played his lyre. Not caring for the people, he saw only the political opportunity to blame a minority, and he used the fire as an excuse to build a gigantic new palace. 7/X

Analysis of lead isotopes within the cores can even tell us exactly which mines the lead came from! Of course, the brilliant people that discovered this are the same people that are accused by reactionary and short-sighted politicians of not understanding how the climate works. 6/X

Ice cores recovered from Greenland contain smoky layers of lead-rich ice. Researchers have connected the lead concentrations with global wind patterns to show us when Roman silver mines were most active, indicating times of economic prosperity. 5/X

On the political side, thoughtful leaders like Cicero saw conservation of land and resources as a priority for national security. He once sued a man for endangering Rome through privately harvesting public groves of trees. 4/X

In Italy, intense lumber-harvesting fed the cook-fires of Rome and built its ships and houses, but the denuded hills began to erode. Usable farmland literally slid down towards the sea over decades and rivers changed course. Lack of climate policy literally deformed the land of Italy. 3/X

The Romans loved a plant known as Silphium, but it was driven to extinction from over-farming. Depleted soil meant that replacement crops could not be grown, and the plant perished. Short-term profit motivated farmers to grow it anyway. Without stewardship, the crop was destroyed. 2/5